How to make garlic paste

Garlic paste is a must- have in my refrigerator. I am a huge garlic fan and always have garlic either in my fridge or freezer for handy use. Almost everything in my cooking starts with ginger-garlic paste. Earlier I use to grind the paste from scratch for every recipe but with busier schedules I now have 2 small jars of garlic paste ready everytime – one in my fridge and other one in my freezer. For freezing, I just put 1 teaspoon paste in each ice-cube tray and freeze. When the recipe calls for 1 teaspoon garlic I simply toss my frozen garlic cube in the recipe.

Nowadays ginger-garlic paste is readily available in supermarkets. But why buy store bought when you can make your very own. Its very easy and simple. To preserve my garlic paste, I add lemon juice, this increases its shell life. I prefer to keep my garlic and ginger pasteseparate because some recipes call for ginger and having both of them separate is a great help.

IF LOOKING FOR GINGER- GARLIC PASTE THEN ADD 1 CUP OF GINGER + 1/2 CUP OF GARLIC PODS AND GRIND THEM TO A SMOOTH PASTE.

Garlic has many medicinal properties. My dad was a heart patient and he use to consume Kashmiri Garlic pod also known as elephant garlic or snow mountain garlic – empty stomach to lower his LDL cholesterol. Kashmiri garlic pod is almost a size of pearl onion and has a very strong odor.

INGREDIENTS-

1 cup garlic pods

Water – enough to make a paste – I used 1/2 cup

1 tablespoon Lemon juice.

METHOD-

Peel and wash garlic.

Place garlic and water in a mixer to make a smooth paste.

Add lemon juice and store in an airtight container. Good for 2-3 week.

Thanks for stopping by Tara. After grinding, add 1 tablespoon vinegar to the garlic paste and it will act as a preservative. If no vinegar on hand – add 1 tablespoon oil to the grounded garlic paste and oil will prevent it from turning green. Hope that helps.